Embarrassment is no reason to die young
by Profilore
Summary: After the promised day is over, the last thing Ed wants to do is leave his brother's side, but there's a conversation he needs to have with May Chang before she leaves for Xing.


After all the strange, terrible, and wonderful things she saw at the promised day, Mei wasn't ready to leave for Xing straight away. Ling won their rivalry anyway, and promised to take care of her clan, so she decided to stay around for a few more days, to help with the cleanup and make sure dearest Alphonse will be alright.

When she came to visit him in the hospital for the third time, he was (regrettably, but unsurprisingly) asleep, but Edward was sitting dutifully at his side. Even though she still thought he was a weirdo, Mei didn't have anything against him anymore, so when he suddenly asked her to take a walk with him, presumably to get some food and a coffee, she agreed.

They walked through the overflowing hospital corridors, out on the streets, and found a small food stall, where Edward paid for their snacks. Pleased to be treated like a proper lady for once, Mei smiled and sat down on a bench beside him.

They talked about Alphonse and alchemy (the only things they had a common interest in) for a bit. While Edward was talking about his newly-restored brother, his whole face seemed to shine with happiness and satisfaction, and Mei thought it was a good look on him, even though he still seemed pale and very tired.

"Mei?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, there's something I hoped to talk to you about, before you leave." She turned to look and he was slumped forward, hugging his stomach, not smiling any more.

"Is something wrong with Alphonse?"

"No! No, don't worry. He's no worse than yesterday, I told you already. Shit, you have a monster of a crush on him, don't you?"

Mei flushed scarlet, but didn't bother trying to deny the obvious.

"Then, what is it, Edward? Do you need my help with something?" She remembered that he lost his alchemy just a few days ago and wondered if that was connected somehow, but Edward just shook his head, still not looking at her.

"It's nothing to do with Al. I was wondering… how good is your healing alchemy?"

Mei tried not to get offended.

"I'm still learning, of course, but I'm the best in my clan, and it has never failed before…"

"That's not what I… Mei, sorry, I didn't mean to imply you're unskilled or something, I know you're good at it. You saved lieutenant Hawkeye. I'm not about to forget that!"

"Then what do you want to know, Edward?" She asked, mollified but confused.

"Can you… heal old scarring? I mean, I saw that Hawkeye didn't have a scar on her neck where you closed the cut, so I thought…"

"Is this about your arm? You want me to get rid of the scar for you?"

"No. I don't really mind it. I mean, it's nothing compared to not having an arm, and I kind of like to have such a visible… reminder. Al gave up his life to give it back to me, I don't want to just… erase that. But, can you?"

"Well," she thought about it for a second, "I've never really tried it before. I don't think I can erase a scar completely, but I can make the connective tissue a little softer, ease the tension in your skin…"

He was looking at her thoughtfully now, and she realized that for some reason, Edward was afraid to talk to her about this. This kind of situation wasn't completely new to her; after all, she was one of the main healers back home.

"Are you alright, Edward? Do you have another scar that you want me to look at? Is it… in a sensitive place?"

Edward spit out his mouthful of coffee in a very unattractive way. When his coughing finally calmed and his airways were sufficiently cleared, he shook his head and looked at her like he thought she was the crazy one.

"If it isn't, then just say what it is. I'm not going to laugh at you, I promise."

"…Remember when we met at Baschool? After Scar left with Winry and you guys followed? And then I… disappeared for a while?"

"Yes, of course I remember. Alphonse was very worried about you, you know. It was so mean of you, not to let him know you were ok…"

"That's because… well, I wasn't. I wasn't ok."

Suddenly, Edward's hesitation and discomfort started to make sense. Worried, Mei moved a bit closer and laid a gentle hand on his stiff back.

"What happened there?"

"When Kimblee and I fought, he brought a tower down on my head, and the weight of it was enough to collapse to whole mess down into the mines. I would've been injured either way, but when I fell, a metal support beam fell with me… and I got impaled by it."

Mei's eye widened, her pulse speeding up. Impalement?

"How bad was it? Where was the wound?"

He paled a little more, hugging himself tighter. "Stomach. The left side. Through and through to the back."

"But… ancestors… Were your organs not…"

"…They were. My intestines were… mush."

"I'm so sorry, Edward… How did you survive?"

"Almost didn't. Wouldn't have, if I hadn't used my own life force… the way you'd use a philosopher's stone."

Speechless, she stared. He took a deep breath and uncoiled, straightening his back and finally looking back at her. She rarely ever had a chance to look him in the eye from up close, and the intensity of the golden fire in his irises never ceased to surprise her.

"I hoped you'd… take a look at it, if you can. I'm healed by now but," His left hand sneaked up to his bangs, tugging them away from his face. An old nervous habit, "I'm not one hundred percent. My stomach doesn't behave like it used to. Maybe if the internal scarring wasn't so…"

Ancestors. She could imagine. Stomach wounds were considered the worst way to die for a reason, if you didn't bleed out in the first five minutes, anyway.

"Of course I'll help. I'll do everything I can."

Edward smiled at her, still nervous but relieved.

"There's another thing. You and Ling can sense people from a distance, right?"

"Yes, we can. The dragon's pulse allows those of us who are sensitive enough to it's flow to recognize the presence of living things around us."

"So… is it just that you feel if someone's close, or do you know something about them? Like, how old or healthy they are?"

"Weeell… I can usually tell if it's someone I've met before or not… And if they are really sick, their life force feels… weaker, more distant."

"May," He swallowed, "Do I… feel any differently to you now then… the last time we met? I mean… Am I weaker?"

And then, it finally downed on her. Of course. He used his life force to heal himself and now…

Now he wants to know just how much he has left.

There were tears in her eyes, but she rubbed at them angrily, not allowing herself to be distracted. Her emotions can wait. Now she has a patient.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the spark of life sitting beside her, tuning out the rest of the world. It was a difficult comparison, she didn't exactly pay that much attention to individual lights on the daily basis, she'd keep running into lampposts with her attention so divided, but she did remember, vaguely, what he used to feel like, if only because she was always trying to look for Alphonse, and Edward was never far away from him if he could help it.

And… Yes.

"You feel almost the same, Edward," She said, wiping her face again. So unbecoming for a princess, how much she's been crying lately. She wasn't this much of a crybaby before she left home. All these weirdos were making her soft.

He raised his eyes and looked at her like she was an angel of mercy. She took his right hand between hers, squeezing.

"So… does that mean I'm not…"

"You are not going to die, Edward. Not any time soon. You feel like the young man you are, just maybe a bit sick and stressed. What life-force you used to save yourself… I'd say, it won't make that much of a difference."

A few days later Edward walked her to the train station, and it was the first time she saw him without any pain or fear weighing his down. That was a good look on him, too.

Thnx everyone for reading! I'm still working on my other story, but i needed a break from it, so... Let me know what you think.


End file.
